Kander endorses ‘Safe at Home’ program in support of Sexual Assault Awareness Month (AUDIO)

Missouri’s Secretary of State is endorsing an address confidentiality program to help support victims of sexual and domestic violence, as a way to help observe April’s Sexual Assault Awareness Month.

Secretary of State Jason Kander is highlighting his office’s ‘Safe at Home’ program by protecting victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, rape, and stalking. Kander says the program helps to protect survivors by concealing their addresses, and acting as a forwarding service. “The goal for us is to keep people safe so they can truly survive the ordeal that they’ve gone through and then can live a full life at their home,” he said. “It’s an address forwarding service that was created by the legislature in 2007.”

Kander says the mission of the program is to limit an assailant’s ability to access public information that could identify the victim’s new residential location if and when they decide to move, which would give the survivors and their families a chance to remain safe from their attackers. “I’m glad we can offer this as a service to survivors and that it can be a useful tool if a family needs assistance to move forward and protect themselves,” he said. “We just want to help people feel safe from any other further abuse or assault.”